When are they old enough to watch Star Wars?

My boys were introduced to Star Wars about 1 1/2 years ago at the ages of 4 1/2 and 6 1/2 - at a friend's house. I wasn't thrilled - but the first one isn't too terribly bad and even the second 2 are okay - and by 1-3 I mean 4-6 - MY first three. The newer ones I think are far too violent for young kids and have greatly limited how often they watch them. It's hard to refuse - they are sooooooo into it - but we've talked about balancing the violent movies w/the non-violent ones. I do feel like I'm in the minority though. My friend who let the kids watch Star Wars takes her boys to movies I'd never let my boys see but now knows to ask me about what our kids see when they're together...

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I think my folks had the ages right with us - we went to original opening with the whole family. Two adults, two teenage brothers and my sister and I - we were 4 and 5 at the time. My sister slept through half of it but I was riveted, and perhaps more so since the only movie I had ever been to was NONE. Dad read the opening sequence to us since we weren't readers yet, and mom brought along home made popcorn (had to sneak that in to the balcony where we were seated). AWESOME!

I suggest that you wait until she is old enough to have lasting memories - my sister does not remember a thing, but I sure do.

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Episodes 1-3 -- shown as 4-6 are way to violent for small children.

I'd say 11-13 depending on your child.

But, the kid doesn't care about the other episodes. You do. So why bother. Stick with the originals and have yoru adult movie conversation with other adults.

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I saw Star Wars when it first came out - I was 7. I loved it, and remember running around the neighborhood with all my friends waving "lightsavers" and fighting the Empire. I, of course, fancied myself Princess Leia - funny, the only "princess" I ever wanted to be was strong and able to kick Vader's butt!

No lasting damage here (except that occasional twitch...), and I was old enough to understand story line, and to remember the experience.

I do agree, though, that if you ever do want to show them the far inferior "second three", I would wait until they're older, as they are more frivolously violent.

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I have 2 girls, turning 10 and 8 in January. Neither is interested in Star Wars right now, but I would let them watch the first couple. My younger daughter probably wouldn't be interested. I don't think I would let any child under 8 see the one where Luke Skywalker looses his hand.
My older girl got interested in Harry Potter after school started. She is now on book 5. She listens to the audio book(s) at bedtime, but I haven't let her see the movies until after she has read the book.

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I was about 6 or 7 I think. And Return of the Jedi was MY FAVORITE. I wore that VHS out.
My brother was about 3 or 4 at the time and he was terrified of the monsters. He would hide around the corner in the hall until their part was over and then come back in.
We both survived with no ill effects. :)

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What consequences to early exposure to these films are people afraid of?

I'll be the crazy parent: we've never censored what my son watches in terms of scifi fantasies. Our thought was that if we taught him right from wrong there wouldn't be problems. We keep up an active dialogue with him about fantasy violence, real versus movies...

I'm curious what other parents think my son may be in for as an early consumer of this kind of story.

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This is something we've been talking about in our house for some time now. Our oldest son has been asking to see Star Wars for over a year now and this Christmas, finally, we've decided to buy the original trilogy (unaltered versions) on dvd as a family gift. He's six and in the first grade. He hears about it here and there, on the bus and at school and also in books he reads. We feel he's ready, but we waited until we were sure.
I was seven when I first saw the movie, but then I saw it at the theater when it first came out.
Good luck with your deliberations!

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I saw "A New Hope" in the theatre when it was originally released. I was 6. I think we'll probably wait until around then for our daughter too. Unfortunately, we won't have the luxury of having the next movie unavailable for two years, and I think "Empire Strikes Back" is perhaps a bit much for a 6 year old. We'll probably just have to wing it!

As for "Phantom Menace" -- hopefully I can put that off until teenagehood. Or maybe never. Those were just really horrible, and as other posters have said, the gratuitous violence was just too much.

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I was 3 when the 1st movie came out. We saw it at the drive-in. What a fun night. I couldn't wait to see the next ones. My siblings and cousins used to play with the figures everywhere!
Now, my kids have seen all 6. They are 11, 4, and 2. We have the Lego video games, and Pool noodle light sabers. My son and his cousins now are into anything Star Wars.
If you teach kids right and wrong, and that being mean is bad, movies aren't that bad. You can even use the movies to teach since Darth Vader, the meanest guy in the movies, turns good at the end and saves Luke.
I'm with mamaloo. Don't just show it to them. Answer their questions and talk about it with them. Teach them it's just a movie.

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There are also a lot of star wars books. This has been a great way to get my son into reading more advanced chapter books. He is 7. I think that the obvious distinction between good and evil, and how important it is to be good in the face of temptation is a good lesson. This type of movie can also be used as a discussion starter, if you are worried about it ask what they think. I think the movies area fun way to bridge the generation gap.

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I don't know, I don't even want my kid to watch several "G" rated movies until she's a teenager, like "March of the Penguins." But I think the benefit of her sharing something with her father is important, too. I'd say around 8.

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my son started watching them when he was 3. He started with his dad when he was supposed to be taking a nap. He has since all 6 of them. I don't see anything wrong with them. When you stop and think about it, they are abviously make believe and really no different then superman, spiderman, and batman. It's the whole Good vs. Evil thing.

and I do moniter what my child watches. Star wars is pretty much the only thing that he is allowed to watch that is not "g". I believe the only other thing i let him watch is the Lord of the Ring movies and I had to let them b/c of my husband.

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Well Orion is two years three months and I'm planning to show it to him at Christmas. Clearly I'm a terrible mother.

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i think that 11 is a good age, if they are mature enough. my husband and i have a blended family. there are big differences in our kids. my 2 girls, 9 and 10, never watched violence. my husband's son watched harry potter, star wars, lord of the rings, spiderman, etc. since age 2. he had behavior problems, he hit (especially with that darn lightsaver that i eventually tossed in the trash), and he didnt know the difference between reality and pretend until 7and a half. after the last harry potter movie, he refused to sleep alone in his room and threw fits each night. (he lives far away now, this is according to his mom).. i am sure the fact that he had two young parents who didnt parent him well contributed, but now that my husband is older, and he and i have a 23 month old son together, we agree that we will not allow him to see those movies until much later... but we are the minority, and i also see lots of kids who see them and are fine..

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I just looked at the voting results and realized that the "middle school" category is getting the highest percentage of votes. That's actually what I voted, though there's a pretty big jump between 5 years old and middle school, so I think I would have gone with 7 or 8 (for the first movie at least) if that had been an option. I saw it in '77, when I was 7, in the drive-in, when it first came out, and I think I was much more enthralled with the experience of going to the drive-in (first time) than I was with the movie itself. I know I fell asleep for the second half.

My husband told our daughter the story of Leia and Luke earlier this year (she's 4) and decided to show her the first part of the movie; but it had been a while since we'd seen it, and we forgot just how much violence there is from the get-go. We stopped it pretty quickly and decided we'll wait a few years. I know for some people it's pretty tame, but for me, I just don't like her seeing that kind of violence - and for the person who said it's no different than spiderman or superman, etc., well, she doesn't watch those things either.

If she does happen to witness violence, either in real life or on tv, we do talk about good vs. bad, so it's not like I'm acting as if it doesn't exist, but I also don't feel like I need to expose her to it, especially at this age.

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I'm not sure there is a standard answer - it really depends on your child. If your child is more timid and tends to frighten easily, then wait until s'he's ready.

If your child is the fearless sort, they may be able to handle it at a younger age.

What I do know is that the longer you put something off, the more curious they get. The forbidden has way more appeal! The longer they have to wait, the more tantalizing something becomes.

Personally I think 'A New Hope' doesn't have a whole lot of graphic violence - what violence there is (other than the Cantina scene, now that I think about it) is pretty cartoonish. Lots of things get blown up and shot at, but not a whole lot of people. The Death Star may blow up a whole planet, but it's an object in space.

My daughter who is nine has been watching Star Wars and Harry Potter and even Lord of the Rings for a while now. I don't think she gives a hoot about the plot, but she's a very visual kid who gets absorbed in the color, complexity and design of visuals. As she's become more sophisticated she has begun to understand more about the plot.

Children are pretty good about absorbing what they can and ignoring the rest.

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I was 8 when A New Hope (not called that at the time, obviously) came out, but my siblings were 6 and 4. We all loved it. Ewan McGregor's daughter was 6 when he was working on Phantom Menace, and he had no problems showing her the OT. I think there's something very innocent and fun with the OT that you don't get with the Prequel Trilogy.

That said, I distinctly remember feeling HORRIFIED during the scene where Luke discovers the charred bodies of his aunt and uncle. That scene still makes me squeamish, although I bet it's more of a sense memory than anything else now.

I'm a complete and unashamed Star Wars GEEK -- I have LEGOs (the 10,000 piece X-Wing), and t-shirts (Greedo Never Fired!), and the "original" Original Trilogy, and the Darth Maul journal, and a bunch of the Extended Universe books, and yeah, all of it. So I have a feeling my soon-to-be-born son will be introduced to Star Wars at a pretty young age. :)

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My almost 3 year old has seen 2 of the original 3 already. They are special father/son movies. On each occasion hubby put them on, and perched Nate on his lap and they watched together with Daddy whispering explanations in his ear. My son was a bit scared of parts- but it was actually a good opportunity for daddy to explain that it's just make-believe. At the end- my son loved the movie and getting to watch them with just Daddy.

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I'm with Mamaloo and SAM. And Anji - you are definetly not a bad mom!

My girls watch everything we do if they want to, they are 3 and 7 now. We talk about movies and how they are made. We talk about why people would want to make or watch movies. We talk about anything the girls ask about. If they start watching something with us and decide that they are uncomfortable with the images, I take them to another room and we start up whatever activity they want.

The way we approach movies is the way we approach everything with our girls. Full disclosure with understanding appropriate discussion. Both of us were raised that way and I would have it no other way.

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